ZipPrint has the Territory covered and is growing faster than a Sturt's Desert Rose
ZipPrint
There was a pivotal day in Mark Teakle’s young life back in 1985, when he accepted a job offer to become a ‘Printer’ before he even knew what one did. Mark wasn’t to know that his decision would take him on a 30-year journey to become the owner of two printing business, ZipPrint in Darwin and Asprint in Alice Springs, serving customers throughout the Northern Territory and growing strongly every year.
Having started as an apprentice in Alice Springs working a hot lead letterpress processing ‘lead slugs’, Mark appreciates how print technology has advanced over the subsequent years, enabling faster production, with higher-quality output, using much more sophisticated, less manual techniques.
Understanding and embracing technological advances, combined with hard work, allowed Mark to quickly move up the ranks from apprentice to manager by the age of 21, then to General Manager of that same business 17 years later. With his eye on the prize to steer his own ship, Mark started work as Manager of ZipPrint in 2009 and over the ensuing 3 years Mark grew the business by 25%, before he bought it in 2012 allowing his dream of Fats’ Printing to become a reality.
At the controls, Mark bought Asprint in Alice Springs in 2013 which was a gratifying step in his career journey – buying back into his home town, buying a business that was once his competitor, from an old industry compatriot – allowing him to serve customers across the whole Northern Territory region. Mark installed his first Roland DG VS-540i wide format printer at Asprint back in 2016 which is still the main print machine they use. Mark is proud of the fact that, “its paid for itself 10x over. It’s only had one new print head in all that time.”
When asked why he chose a Roland DG device as his first wide format printer investment, his straightforward response is “because they’re better quality and more reliable. In a remote area like this, you have to put the best machines possible into your business.”
"...because they’re better quality and more reliable. In a remote area like this, you have to put the best machines possible into your business.”
Very quickly, his VS-540i proved its value and Mark agreed to purchase a VG-540 in 2018, then a VG3-640 in 2022 in response to appeals from his long-serving staff saying that “they needed to put one of them into Zip Print in Darwin.” A clever decision, since wide format printing has been, and continues to be, ZipPrint’s biggest growth area, responsible for the business tripling in size in the ensuing 10+ years, forcing ZipPrint to move to much larger (and more impressive) premises in 2022.
Mark’s very proud of how they planned the layout, designed the interior décor themselves and even printed their stunning wall coverings for their new factory using their Roland DG printers. The results are spectacular and epitomise the superior work ZipPrint produces for their customers.
To this point, ZipPrint and Asprint have three wide format Roland DG printers between them and have plans to invest in a new UV printer in the near future. According to Mark two of the printers run 3 full days every week, leaving other jobs to the other printers in the business. He says “They’re just very good machines.”
To keep his businesses growing Mark can’t afford downtime, so he makes sure he never misses a 6-monthly scheduled service on his Roland DG devices and swears by “the reliability of Roland DG service” so his printers are “making money every day.” As evidence of this, Mark’s VS-540i has been serviced on-time, every 6 months since 2016! His other printers have received the same 6-monthly Roland DG Care since installation in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
Mark’s philosophy on maintenance transfers to all aspects of his operations; he maintains strong relationships with his customers, loyal staff and local communities, he swears by the strong relationship he has with Jeremy Matthews, his long-time Roland DG Service Technician, and he focuses on keeping his equipment operating in peak condition. Mark says he replaces them (with other, newer devices) but never gets rid of them. Even his oldest Roland DG machine is still working and still making money for his business, every day.
We’re keen to see what’s ahead for Mark and his team at ZipPrint and Asprint in the next 30 years. They’re certainly on a strong trajectory.
To find out more about ZipPrint and Asprint head to the company’s website.
Find out about Roland DG Care Service and Support to ensure your Roland DG equipment is optimally maintained to avoid downtime like the team at ZipPrint and Asprint.
Learn more about the reliability of Roland DG wide format printers here.